Having a piece of music composed for you is a great honour; to perform it with the composer conducting, an even greater one. Romsey Choral Society will soon have that privilege when Paul van Gulick, a celebrated composer and conductor in The Netherlands, conducts the première of his new work Horses: A Gift to Mankind, during a Remembrance-themed concert in Romsey Abbey in November.
Paul became interested in writing a piece of music on a visit to Romsey last year, when he learned about the role of the Romsey Remount Centre during the First World War and the project to raise money for a commemorative 'war horse' statue for Romsey Memorial Park. The Remount Centre at Romsey played a vital wartime role in supplying horses to cavalry brigades fighting on the western front. Over the course of WW1, more than 120,000 horses from all corners of the world were shipped to Romsey, brought to fitness, trained for warfare and then sent on to France. Most did not return.
Paul was touched by the story and felt inspired to compose a 20 minute work for choir, orchestra, soloist and narrator and dedicated it to Romsey Choral Society. Paul explained: "Horses: A Gift to Mankind tells many stories and from a range of perspectives, including that of the horse himself. It includes various styles - from the traditional English hymn to Parisian chanson to Middle Eastern folk music - and to bring it right up to date, I've even included a rap section featuring rapper Ronald Dielemans! I hope the choir will enjoy singing it as much as I have enjoyed writing it!"
The Society’s Musical Director, Jamie W Hall will conduct two further works - Sir George Dyson’s Agincourt, a setting of text from Shakespeare’s Henry V, and Vaughan Williams’s sublime Dona Nobis Pacem, its title Give Us Peace as significant a plea in today’s troubled world as it was a century ago.